Nathaniel spence



UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE.

NATHANIEL SPENCE, OF NE\V YORK, N. Y.

MOLD FOR. PRESSING BONNET-FRAMES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 12,004, dated November 28, 1854;Antedated November 10, 1854.

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHANIEL SPENGE, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvenients inMachinery for Forming or Pressing up Bonnet-Frames; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figurel, represents a perspective view, Fig. 2, a vertical central section,and Fig. 3, an instrument for raising the upper from the lower die.

Similar letters in the figures denote like parts.

In the patent of William Chaplin, of the l0 Sept. 1840, is described acounter die which he says may be heated,-the block or upper die being ofwood; and he moreover states that the counter die retains the heat longenough to finish several frames before reheating-the length of timerequired to `finish a frame varying with the degree of heat in said dieor countersink.

The nature of my invention consists in arranging with the metallic dieand counterdie, the heaters to beV described, by which means I keep up amore equable degree of heat, and expedite the forming of the frames, andwhereby the dies can be removed without disturbing the heaters, or theheaters removed or changed without opening the dies. And in thisconnection I would state that, sad, and hatters or tailors irons, havebeen heated by a metallic heater block, and that heated dies have beenused. I do not therefore claim these things irrespective of t-he deviceswhich I have represented.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings.

A, represents a stand upon which is arranged -a plate or table B, whichby means of its hub C, and a set screw or other suitable fastening maybe made adjustable on said stand.

D, is a conical shaped heating iron, with a hole in its center so as tofit over the hub of the stand, from which it may be removed, andreplaced by another heater of a similar form, when found necessary.

E, is a metallic block-the underside of which is so shaped as to restover the heater D, and upon the skirts of the table, so as to completelycover up the said heater, and prevent the heat from escaping except byradiation through the met-al in contact with it. The upper part of theblock E, has formed upon it a die of the shape of the bo-nnet, or bonnetfront. The skirt of this die has a flange a, turned upward upon it tocatch and hold, a slight projection on the counter die, and bring itinto its proper position. A mark upon the under side of the block, andone upon the table should be made (as a pin and hole or slot) for thepurpose of matching or fitting said block to the stand.

F, is the upper or counter die, also of metal, and made the counterpartof the die on the block E. It has a fiange b on its outer part, forcatching and holding the heating blocks c, c, c, c, which are insections, for being more readily removed and replaced. On the undersideof the counter die, should be also a pin or mark to match with a similarpin or mark on the lower die, to serve the purpose of what are known aspitch pins. There is a fixed bail d, on the upper part of the counterdie, which has an oblong slot e in its crown; and at right angles tothis fixed bail, is a movable bail f hinged to the lugs g g. A set screwpassing through the slot e into the bail f, allows the latter to beadjusted so as to balance and keep in a horizontal position the upperdie, as it is raised and lowered to place and replace the stock out ofwhich the bonnet frames are to be made.

G, Fig. 3, is a small tool, the teeth k, h, h, of which are for enteringbetween the two dies, into spaces left purposely for them, for prying,or slightly raising apart or upward the upper die, to detach it from thebonnet frame which is in the position represented by the red lines Fig.2, between the dies.

A press of any'convenient form may be used for pressinv the upperagainst the lower die, having force enough to insure that the materialbetween them is properly shaped. -The heat of the two diesalmostinstantly gives the bonnet frame, (the material out of which it ismade having been previously prepared with starch or other stiffeningmattter) the desired form, and dries it sufficiently so that it can beremoved and 4retain that form, and thus makes,`as it were, but oneoperation of stamping up, and drying said frame. When the diesthemselves were heated it not only spoiled their to keep the machineconstantly in operation. f

smooth surface, but required duplicates to keep the machine going, andthey the most expensive part of the machine. By using separate heatingirons, the polished surfaces of the dies are not injured thereby, andduplicates of the heaters, Which may be of the roughest material, is allthat is required Having thus fully described the nature of my inventionwhat I claim therein as nevv and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The arrangement of the metallic die, and

NATHANIEL SPENGE. Witnesses C. N. BovEn, F. B. MAYHEIN, ISAAC O. BARKER.

